The Foyer (Japanese: エントランス Entrance) is the entrance room to the mansion. All players will enter this room upon starting and loading the game. It serves as something of pseudo-central hub of sorts, while also serving as a practice area.
During the first visit to the mansion, the player will have to solve a simple narrative puzzle to gain access to the Parlor, where Luigi will meet Professor E. Gadd. It's only after this that Luigi will return to the mansion to start the game properly. This makes the Foyer the only room that's freely explorable without the Poltergust 3000.
Features[]
Toad[]
One of the game's four Toads appears in this room. Upon speaking to him the first time, he'll cease crying and the room's lights will turn on. He'll then allow you to save the game whenever you talk to him. During the blackout, he, along with all the other Toads, will be gone from the mansion until the power is turned back on.
Area Door[]
Straight ahead of the entrance is a pair of double doors with oblong semicircles that form a heart shape. These doors can only be opened upon the defeat of Chauncey and the acquisition of his Boss Key. In the GameCube version, these doors are covered in thorns and constantly pulse from the doorknobs out. If the player attempts to open the doors without Chauncey's key in their possession, they'll take damage. When approached with the Boss Key in possession, a sequence will play where the door pulses faster and faster before the pulse and thorns vanish, allowing the player to unlock the door.
In the 3DS version, the glow and thorns were removed, and it now behaves like a normally locked door, likely to prevent new players from hurting themselves so early in the game. Additionally, the heart shape on the doors will pulse and glow pink when the player is in possession of Chauncey's key. The unlocking sequence for the door is still present and is significantly faster.
Chandelier[]
The room's chandelier is quite unique in that it will twirl and drop on Luigi should he walk directly beneath it. If Luigi doesn't move immediately, he will be struck by the falling light installation. Should he be hit, a ghostly giggle believed to be Chauncey's will play. If it misses, a disappointed whine is heard instead.
Mirror[]
The first mirror in the game is also present in this room, draped upon by a piece of cloth. It's thought that the purpose of this mirror is in joint to show off the ability to vacuum cloth, as well as possible to show off the mirror trick. However, as scanning mirrors will always take the player to the Foyer, this mirror in the Foyer will just move Luigi to the center of the room.
Money[]
The Foyer is one of only a handful of rooms in the entire mansion to have cash laying out in the open, in this case, several coins are laid out in a trail pointing towards the Area 1 Hallway door in the Foyer's loft. If Luigi uses his Poltergust to move the coins without actually collecting them, they'll act like dropped coins and eventually vanish. This feature was removed in the 3DS version.
Additionally, a Gold Bar can be found within the drawers north of Toad on the ground area, while, the vases in the loft can be vacuumed for a number of coins, though their appearances can be random.
The light fixture above the Area Door, As well as the hazardous chandelier, can also be vacuumed for a number of coins and bills.
Worth noting is that the game decides randomly when some of these cash sources will appear.
Ghosts[]
The Foyer is arguably one of the largest standard rooms in the mansion to be completely devoid of any ghosts. However, during the initial visit, there is a Gold Spirit that appears briefly in ethereal form, dropping a key before flying into the Parlor. Outside of this instance, the only ghost presence in this room is the Chandelier hazard.
Trivia[]
- This room is one of several in the mansion that has obstructions that can damage Luigi. This one, unlike most other rooms with this distinction, is the only one that can occur without direct input, as Luigi merely needs to walk under the chandelier for it to trigger, something that most players do automatically upon loading a save.
- Interestingly, the Foyer is the only standard room in the mansion to transcend two floors.
- The Area Door here, along with the doors leading to the Parlor and the doors leading to the Kitchen, are the only ones in the game to be sets of double doors.